Senator Kennedy rallies public support for minimum wage increase

Tuesday January 8, 2013 | By:Press Release | News

With income inequality expanding and too many families struggling with low and stagnant wages, Senator Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, has been working to build public support behind efforts to raise the minimum wage. At 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 11 Kennedy will gather community activists, faith-based leaders and local residents at a rally at the Gloria J. Parks Community Center to urge Albany to finally take action on legislation to boost the minimum wage. Kennedy calls the minimum wage hike a “critical measure to lift families from poverty and boost the local economy.”

Kennedy invites the public to join the rally Friday to show support for an increase in the minimum wage. The Gloria J. Parks Community Center is located at 3242 Main Street, Buffalo.

Kennedy cosponsored a proposal that would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour. About 1 million workers – which is about 11 percent of the state’s entire workforce – will see a positive benefit in their paychecks when the minimum wage is raised to $8.50. At the current minimum wage, a family of two – one full-time, minimum-wage earner and a dependent – barely earns enough to live above the federal poverty line. Kennedy also supports linking the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which would help maintain the purchasing power of minimum-wage households.

For more information on the rally or on legislative proposals to raise the minimum wage, you can contact Senator Kennedy’s office at 716-826-2683 or kennedy@nysenate.gov.